Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Chai Glaze

cakes + muffins ― 19. 11. 2018

It's fejioa season here in New Zealand, and my dad has his garden full of them! It has a sweet, aromatic flavor, which tastes like pineapple and mint. The flesh is juicy and is divided into a clear, gelatinous seed pulp and a firmer, slightly granular, opaque flesh nearer the skin. The fruit falls to the ground when ripe and at its fullest flavour. Now they are literally falling on the ground waiting for us to eat them fresh or make beautiful cakes and jams. This is how I used them...

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups spelt, buckwheat, quinoa or any other flour

1 cup coconut sugar

1 1/2 coconut milk

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp baking soda

sea salt

1/2 cup fejioas (or any other sesonal fruit)

3 Tbsp poppy seeds

Glaze

2 cups water

1 stick cinnamon

1 piece fresh ginger chopped

3 whole cardamom pods

1 whole star anise pod

5 whole cloves

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp freshly-ground nutmeg

5 tsp green or black tea or 2 tea bags

1/3 cups coconut sugar

1/2 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180 C, and grease or line a baking dish with baking paper. Add the dry ingredients in to a large mixing bowl, and mix to combine. Blend the wet ingredients – fejioa flesh, juice of lemon, coconut oil, apple cider. Stir the wet into the dry and mix until combined. Spoon the mixture in to the cake tin, and smooth out evenly with the back of a spoon. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted. Leave to cool completely.

Glaze

Bring the water to a boil. Add the spices and tea, remove from heat and let steep 15-20 minutes, depending on how strong you want it. Strain and add the coconut sugar, honey, and vanilla. Boil until it turns into syrup. Drizzle over cake.